Horse falls on woman

A 65-year-old Montrose woman had to be airlifted from the backcountry Friday evening after a horse she was riding fell on her.

The woman, who was riding with her husband and a hunting guide near Dome Peak on the Routt and Garfield county line, was crossing a creek when the accident happened, Routt County Search and Rescue mission commander Leon Shupp said. The party found another person who was scouting hunting areas and used the man's cellular phone to call for help.

Routt County Search and Rescue was dispatched at about 3:30 p.m. Friday to assist the Oak Creek Ambulance Department in rescuing the woman from the remote area.

It took Search and Rescue crews about 1 1/2 hours to reach the woman, who was about three-quarters of a mile from Forest Service Road 615, a two-track road that was snow-covered in places and accessible only by four-wheelers, Shupp said.

A helicopter was called in to transport the woman from the area. Rescue crews used four-wheelers to transport her about three-quarters of a mile to the helicopter landing zone. The helicopter was airborne and en route to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction by about 7 p.m., Shupp said.